Magma Digi-Control Bag XL Review & Video

Review Summary:

Looking for a bag to fit a controller that's Traktor Kontrol S4-sized? This new bag from Magma fits an amazing amount of gear, is well-made and practical, and offers decent protection. We couldn't see much use for the small zip pocket on the front, but apart from that we think this is a great bag, albeit at a not insubstantial price.

The chunky but lightweight Magma Digi-Control Bag XL can carry an awful lot of gear.

Review: Magma Digi-Control Bag XL

Full Magma Digi-Control Bag XL Review & Video: Got a Traktor Kontrol S4 or other similarly sized controller? Looking for a substantial bag that can fit your controller and a lot of extra gear too? Then the Magma Digi-Control Bag XL (not to be confused with the Magma Digi-Backpack XL which we have reviewed previously) has you in its sights. A deep, rectangular affair in black padded nylon with a red interior, this bag is designed to be carried via a handle, or over your shoulder with a detachable shoulder strap. Let's see how it shapes up...

The front of the bag has two quite large, flattish compartments that can hold various items like a controller stand, a laptop, smaller controllers (there's a compartment that's configured for the size of a Traktor Kontrol F1 or Traktor Kontrol X1 Mk 2, for instance), headphones (especially if they'll fold flattish), various leads and cables, and so on. The main action, however, takes place in the back compartment, which zips around three sides of the bag to open up completely. This compartment is very well padded, with a huge pad as a base onto which you put the Kontrol S4, and built-in padding on all sides for a decent amount of protection.

The Kontrol S4 fits really snugly in the bag.

The Traktor Kontrol S4 fits perfectly, but Magma also provides various red nylon coated pads with Velcro on them to attach in positions within the compartment to reduce its size to fit controllers like the Kontrol S2, the Vestax VCI-380 and Vestax VCI-400, the Reloop Terminal Mix 2 and Jockey series, and other similarly sized models - even the Mixtrack Pro and Pro 2 fit fine.

If you remove the big pad from the "base" of this compartment, you can fit in deeper items, so you could feasibly carry pretty large pieces of gear like mixers and so on. Alternatively, you could use the whole bag as a leads and accessories bag for your PA system - for instance - making it flexible for those gigs where you're taking everything including the kitchen sink with you! Frankly, it'd do fine for a quick week in the sun, too, as it's plenty big enough for your holiday stuff.

Conclusion

You can't go wrong with Traktor Kontrol S4 bags in your range, which is maybe why we've received a few recently from various sources (more reviews coming up). It's such a popular controller, but also bigger than most in its class, meaning a lot of the legacy bags haven't fitted it. This one does, though, and it's strong, practical and good looking - in a workmanlike, get-the-job-done kind of way.

The real winning point is the amount of gear it'll fit; compared to, say, the Traktor Kontrol S4 flight case from Native Instruments itself - which despite its size and weight will fit little more than a cable or two alongside the controller - this can fit pretty much your full set-up and still be appreciably lighter. Of course, you wouldn't want to throw this into the hold of a plane (and it's too big for hand luggage, at least on the airlines I use), but as a bag for moving your set-up from car to venue or on short journeys on foot, or of course by public transport, it's ideal.

Product Summary

Review Summary:

Looking for a bag to fit a controller that's Traktor Kontrol S4-sized? This new bag from Magma fits an amazing amount of gear, is well-made and practical, and offers decent protection. We couldn't see much use for the small zip pocket on the front, but apart from that we think this is a great bag, albeit at a not insubstantial price.

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I bought one of these around a year ago and had to return it because the S4 was such a tight fit that damage to either the bag or the S4 seemed inevitable. It was just a shade too small - possibly a result of production variability. Hopefully they have fixed that.

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